PREVALENCE OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT & ITS CHANGE DUE TO HEAPING PROBLEM IN COLLECTED DATA ON BIRTH WEIGHT

Exact reporting of the Low Birth Weight (LBW) is important for monitoring the health of a population. LBW is often underestimated in developing countries due to heaping of the data at 2500 grams. The main objective of reaserch was: to study the prevalence of LBW with adjustment of weight heaping and its association with various covariates in India. In this study, data was taken from the third round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), conducted during 2005-2006. Ratio Method was used to give revised estimate of low birth weight and 95% confidence interval calculated for adjusted low birth weight. Data was analyzed for socio-demographic determinants of states and country (India) level. It was concluded that unadjusted prevalence of LBW in India was reported 21.5% and adjusted prevalence of low birth weight in India was obtained 27.1%.